Combined tie plate and rail retaining structure



' L. SPENCER spt. 12, 195o 4 A COMBI-NED TIE PLATE AND RAIL RETAINING STRUCTURE Filed March 19, 1949 IN V EN TOR.

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1 BY ,f/ m/ Patentecl- Sept. 12, 1950 UNITED .STATES PATENT yGOMBINED TIE PLATE AND RAIL BETAINING STRUCTURVEV:

This linvention relates to improvements in -rail retainipgdevices yof the, general classvvvhichginf cludes the combination of a tie plate andarail anchor ydevice which together` securer the rail to a crosstie withcapacity for-limited vertical movement of, the rail with respect, thereto and also resists lengthwise creeping movement ofthe rail across the tie plate in fthe direction fof the moving traiijc.; n H M A`A` rincipal object vofthe invention is to'fasten a rai1ro,agit-railto@J` crossti.e if1. :ltoprovide forzlirnf itveg vertical movement of the rail Withrespectrto' the sweetie,'thearrangement heine characterized by.. conventionaltie- .piateswhichfis Y'slotted .ato reeite ,railianchelz the latter of `.whichis driven transversely l.oftthe .trail intoflclamping.. engage-. 1 ment. :with :the baseportion of; therail, `the rail anchor impingngiagainstga. Wall' O f. thes1ot-and transmitting the rail creeping-Stress intofthejtie r plate, and theraileanchor. also cooperating v.li/ith amemher which :bridges-,the slot formed in the:l tim-plate and extends .over thegupperxiawof Y.the rail anchor soies :to prevent distprtion or. the raiianchor duringth presence of anebnormaI Walle motion ofthe rail.

AnotherV object of the -invention is to provide o; a .simplified structure-ftolenab1e the rail .anchor to .;.he driven into engagement with the-hase flange `-Qf the rail aridlfseeure ;the; ra i1; against Creeping movement! the tie plate underlying the impprtent features @0f the reinafter, tekenteeether with-the drewirre.,Y wie hre tes t9 e certain .rreferredemf beciimeiit .,Qf. the intention.- ...Vilhile .tile-.invention ierieseribed .in terms .0f a pertain-preferred bsiimierit thereQt its sco. i,sret intended toY be" lirrlitfitf1]ternes.Q fI Seid .embodiment rior .,Wise'gthansty t1.1e;terms..9ilt1.1.e. arrested pasaran@ i2 and the web I3 only of one rail Il -being shown., The 'base flange I2 of the rail. H seatszon a tie'plateiplt'which is rmly secured to azcrosstie i6 byitrack spikes Al 1- passing,rv through` apertures lrformedin the tiev plate nerwell'known'in theart.

The :lateral thrusts .of the rail means; of a'pairzof spaced abutments I9 and 2l iormedionwthe :tie plate i4 and positioned to engage f.opposite-.edge portions of the hasel2..` *Irixorder to .prevent creeping of the rail Il'I with-respect ,to'thefcrossties .a railv anchoring devicexr-is applied :,tothe :base ange yl2 'of the rail il to transmit the rail creeping stresseszto vvthe:tieaplatesfiand ultimately intoy the crosstie's.

The. rail anchoringdevica herein designatedsgen.- 1 eral'1y.at-f22', iswformed :by `v.bending a :.bar of vsub-az stantially .square crossf-section into .suche con-w guratioiasoto prov-idea hook at one end.: The

a'surface'fizl -vzhichbears against an uppers' simplified-punchingoperations? In the form of jawvoverffoneflflange ofatherail hase.

A-Irriorming the rail anchor 42 2, the end remote' from tlietjatv" 26 is-"offset as1indicated Sat1-33 to provide iai shoulder v `illwhich v-loears against edgei36ffof'. therailirbase 112. In epositioni'ng'ithe -railf-anchor 22m ,clamping engagement .with #the baseange I2; the mai'nabody-i3kis1broughtunder y thez'base flange .-'Iand driving 'forceis applied fto-l the-:lietuinbend .oftheihook' until the .shoulder .-34 1I snaps intoaplace .againsti the edge t'fofithe base y yA small famountfof ,clearance is provided be-'r 1 tweemthe end;j.o f the offset portion 3.3, l as shown l at land the end 312;;of A the slot @29. -Thepro-; vision q fiitkli '.Qlealance f3g'lL insures "thatathe-railfl ilanchor 22 can snap into position,v..andff also` in- OFFICE ny are rosistedlloyv sures that the rail anchor cannot be overdriven to any appreciable extent, such overdriving and consequent spreading of the upper and lower Jaws being prevented by the engagement of the end of the body 23 with the end 32 of the slot 29.

It will be seen that with the rail anchor 22 clamped into the position shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the creeping stress will be transmitted by the r-ail anchor 22 into the tie plate I4 and thence into the crosstie.

It is desirable to secure the rail I I to the crosstie I6 with capacity for limited vertical movement of the rail relative to the crosstie. Otherwise the normal vertical wave movement of the rail, incident to the passing of traflic thereover, e

exerts a vertical pulling force on the fastening spikes or imparts vertical pumping ofgthe crossties in the ballast of the roadbed. According to the present invention means are provided forenabling the rails to have the normal amount of wave motion and, at the same time, preventing creeping movement of the rails. To this end the slotted tie plate I4 is provided with a substantially square shaped lug 38 having a square aperture 39 through which the upper jaw 28 of the rail anchor extends. As shown in Fig. 3, the lug 38 includes an arm 4I which overlies the upper jaw 2E and an arm 42 which underlies the said jaw 2B. The arm 42 is welded to the slotted tie plate I4 and spans the slot 2S therein, the arm 42 being situated between a gap 43, 44 formed in the abutment 2|, and normally presenting a face 46 which is in the same plane as the inner face of the abutment 2I.

In forming the rail anchor 22 the lower jaw thereof is given a slight amount of reverse bend as at 41 to provide suitable clearance 48 between the main body 23 and the lower side of the arm 42. The aperture 33 in the lug 38 is of such a dimension that a same amount of clearance 49 is maintained between the lower side of the upper arm 4l and the top surface of the upper jaw 26 of the rail anchor. It will thus be seen that the vertical wave motion of the rail II will at times raise the rail I I with the rail anchor 22 until the lower jaw of the anchor engages with the lower arm 42 of the lug 38 and until the upper jaw 26 is in contact with the upper arm 4I of said lug 38. It will be seen that any abnormal upward movement of the rail base willnot impose an upward force on the upper jaw tending to spread it relative to the lower jaw, since the arm 4I of lug 38, during such abnormal wave movement of the rail, will engage the upper surface of the jaw 26. The upper and lower arms of the lug also cooperate to provide a double truss reinforcement for the slotted end portion of the tie plate.

It will be seen with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawing that I have provided an improved form of rail fastening device which will prevent creeping of the rails with respect to the crossties, the creeping stresses so induced being transmitted into the tie plate and thence into the crosstie. According to the present invention, the rails are also enabled to have a certain amount of vertical wave motion with respect to the tie plate, the amount of such movement being controlled by the clearances 48 and 49 between the rail anchor 22 and the arms 4I and 42 of the lug 38. Abnormal wave movements, according to the invention, will not distort or spread the jaws of the rail anchor or in anyv way lessen its eiciency to transmit creeping stress into the crosstie I6v v While the invention has been described in terms of an embodiment which it may assume in practice, its scope is not intended to be limited in terms of the embodiments shown but only by the terms of the claims here appended.

I claim:

1. In a railway track structure of the class described, a tie plate having an elongated slot, a rail having a base portion adapted to rest on said tie plate, a one-piece rail anchor com- `prising a body portion extending beneath said rail base and in said elongated slot, a return bent hook contiguous with said body portion and defining upper and lower jaws releasably engageable with one flange of said rail base at one side of the rail, and means for securing the .rail 4on said tie plate with capacity for limited vertical movement with respect to said tie plate comprising means secured to said tie plate at opposite sides of the slot to rigidify the tie plate and having portion for bridging said slot in the plate and positioned above the upper jaw of the rail anchor in spaced relation thereto to hold the rail on the plate and to prevent spreading of the said upper jaw relative to the lower jaw of said anchor in the event of abnormal upward movements of said rail.

2.'In a railway track structure of the class described, a tie plate having an elongated slot, a rail having a base ange adapted to rest on said tie plate, a one-piece rail anchor comprising a shank extending beneath said base flange and in said elongated slot, a return bent hook contiguous with said shank and defining upper and lower jaws releasably engageable with said base flange, and means for securing the rail on said tie plate with capacity for limited vertical movement with respect to said tie plate comprising va lug secured to said tie plate and describing av pair-of lspaced substantially horizontally extending arms adapted to be positioned above and vbelow the upper jaw of the anchor whereby the upper arm vof said lugserves as an abutment engaging the top surface of the upper jaw of the anchor to prevent'spreading of the railanchor jaws in the event of abnormal vertical movement of the rail, the lower arm of said lug extending across the elongated slot in said tie plate and secured to said tie plate to provide stiieningmeans for said tie plate.

'3.'In a railway track structure of the class described, a tie plate having an elongated slot, a rail having a base iiange adapted to rest on said tie plate, a one-piece rail anchor comprising a shank extending beneath said base ange and in said elongated slot, a returnvbent hook contiguous with said shank and defining upper andlower jaws releasably engageable with the top and bottom surfaces of said base flange, an integral detent at the other end of said shank releasably engageable with an adjacent edge of said basefiiange, and means for securing the rail on said tie plate with capacity for limited vertical movement with respect to said tie plate comprising a lug secured to said tie plate and delining a pair of spaced substantially horizontally extending arms adapted to be positioned above and below the upper jaw of said anchor, whereby the upper arm provides anrabutment for the top surface of the upper jaw of the anchor and exerts a shear force thereon in the event of abnormal upward movement of the rail relative to the tie plate. l

4. In a railway track structure of the class described, a tie plate having an elongated slot,

a rail havingv a base flange adapted to rest on said tie plate, a one-piece rail anchor comprising a main body extending beneath said base flange and in said elongated slot, a return bent hook contiguous with said body and defining 4upper and lower jaws for releasably clamping the top and bottom surfaces of said base flange, an integral detent at the other end of said body releasably engageable with an adjacent edge of said base iiange, said slot being of such dimension as to provide for the engagement of said detent with the edge of said base flange and to prevent the overdriving of said rail anchor onto said base iiange, and means for securing the rail on said tie plate with capacity for limited vertical movement with respect to said tie plate comprising a lug secured to said tie plate and defining a pair of spaced substantially horizontally extending arms adapted to be positioned above and below the upper jaw of said anchor and to be subjected to shear engagement with said hook in the event of abnormal vertical motion of said rail krelative to the tie plate and thereby prevent spreading of the upper and lower jaws of said anchor. y

5. In a railway track structure of the class described, a tie plate having an elongated slot, a rail having a base flange adapted to rest on said tie plate, a one-piece rail anchor comprising a and in said elongated slot, a return bent hook contiguous with said shank and defining upper and lower jaws releasably engageable with said base flange, and means for securing the rail on said tie plate with capacity for limited vertical movement with respect to said tie plate comprising a substantially rectangular shaped apertured lug secured to said tie plate and spanning the elongated slot therein, said lug defining a pair of spaced substantially horizontally extending arms adapted to be positioned above and below the upper jaw of said anchor said aperture and the upper arm of said lug being positioned to impart a shearing strain on the upper jaw of the anchor as distinguished from an outward flexing strain thereon.

LEE SPENCER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

l UNITED STATES PATENTS' Number 

